Essential Concepts & Key Facts
High-yield conceptual summaries for competitive exams and rapid revision.
- The Reserve Bank of India is mandated under the preamble of the RBI Act, 1934 to operate the monetary policy framework to maintain price stability and ensure economic growth.
- The Flexible Inflation Targeting (FIT) framework, introduced via the Finance Act 2016, legally binds the RBI to maintain headline CPI inflation at 4% with a +/- 2% band (2% to 6%).
- The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) consists of six members: three internal RBI officials (including the Governor) and three external experts nominated by the Central Government.
- The RBI Governor chairs the MPC and exercises a casting vote in the event of an equality of votes (tie) during policy decisions under Section 45ZB.
- The Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) is the fraction of a bank's Net Demand and Time Liabilities (NDTL) that must be kept as cash reserves with the RBI under Section 42 of the RBI Act.
- The RBI does not pay any interest to commercial banks on the cash balances maintained under the Cash Reserve Ratio (discontinued since 2007).
- The Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) is the percentage of NDTL that commercial banks must maintain in liquid assets like approved G-Secs, gold, or cash under Section 24 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
- Under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF), the Repo Rate is the rate at which scheduled commercial banks borrow overnight liquidity from the RBI against government securities.
- In April 2022, the RBI introduced the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) under Section 17 of the RBI Act as the floor of the LAF corridor to absorb surplus liquidity without pledging collateral.
- The Marginal Standing Facility (MSF), introduced in 2011, allows scheduled commercial banks to borrow overnight funds above the repo rate by dipping into their SLR quota up to a specified limit.
- The Bank Rate, codified under Section 49 of the RBI Act for rediscounting commercial bills, is aligned directly with the Marginal Standing Facility rate.
- The policy LAF corridor consists of the MSF at the ceiling (+25 bps above repo), the Repo Rate as the benchmark, and the SDF at the floor (-25 bps below repo).
- Open Market Operations (OMOs) involve the outright sale or purchase of government securities in the secondary market to suck out or inject durable liquidity.
- When the RBI sells government bonds in an OMO, it absorbs rupee liquidity from the banking system, reducing money supply and curbing inflationary pressure.
- When the RBI purchases government bonds in an OMO, it injects liquidity into the banking system, lowering market interest rates and stimulating credit creation.
- Operation Twist involves the simultaneous purchase of long-term government securities and sale of short-term treasury bills to flatten the yield curve.
- The Market Stabilization Scheme (MSS), instituted in 2004, issues specialized Market Stabilization Bonds to absorb excess liquidity caused by large foreign capital inflows.
- Qualitative or selective credit control instruments include prescribing Margin Requirements (Loan-to-Value ratios) for sensitive sectors like real estate or equity markets.
- Credit Rationing allows the RBI to fix maximum credit quotas for individual industries or commercial banks to curb speculative lending.
- Priority Sector Lending (PSL) mandates domestic commercial banks to allocate 40% of their Adjusted Net Bank Credit (ANBC) to designated sectors like agriculture and MSMEs.
- Moral Suasion refers to informal appeals, periodic consultations, and moral pressure exerted by the RBI Governor on bank chiefs to align lending with policy goals.
- Under the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework, the RBI places structured lending restrictions on financially stressed banks breaching capital or NPA thresholds.
Related Knowledge Topics to Discover
Looking for more specific GK questions?
Search across all 0 How the RBI Controls Money Supply in India questions or browse 52,757+ verified questions across 65 domains.